Blackmail
by Ctgguy
Summary: When Rachel Berry decides to spy on Vocal Adrenaline, she instead finds out Dave Karofsky's biggest secret.  And if there's any way he's going to win Kurt's affections, he'll need to survive her help.  Klaine and Kurtofsky.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: No real warnings for this. Mind the rating, summary, and characters and you'll be fine. Multi-chapter WIP, in case that bothers you.

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><p>Rachel Berry glanced over her shoulder quickly as she walked casually through the hallways of Carmel High. It was a brilliant acting exercise: trying to blend in with the student population at McKinley's greatest rival school. Rachel grinned and offered a casual "Hey, girl!" to a random passerby who happened to eye her suspiciously. The girl rolled her eyes and continued on her way, while Rachel silently added undercover work to her already impressive resume.<p>

If the rumors were true, then Vocal Adrenaline was currently being coached by Jesse St. James. And if _that_ were true, then Rachel knew that she had to use all of her feminine charm and eclectic past with the new director to gain a little bit of insight into what the New Directions' foes were up to. It was, after all, no different than Jesse spending several months as a member of New Directions before defecting back to Vocal Adrenaline. That had been far worse, and had been accompanied with an egg massacre in the high school's parking lot. Rachel frowned at the memory: this wasn't gaining an unfair advantage for Nationals—it was the revenge of countless baby chicken souls!

Pausing at the door that led backstage at Carmel's auditorium, Rachel stole a quick glance to either side before slipping into the room. It was dark; Rachel found herself bumping into various set pieces for what must have been the most recent school production as she edged closer toward a light that clearly signaled the front of the stage. Without warning, the sound of Jesse's voice traveled around the corner and Rachel quickly ducked under a crudely made wooden staircase.

"Look at it this way: you'll be featured in one of numbers for Nationals. I could have just forced you to sway in the background. You're talented, so you need to be on my team."

Another male voice, one that was vaguely familiar to Rachel, responded in a strained tone.

"I don't want to be a part of your slave-driven group. I've got too much to worry about already. There's the issue of keeping up my grades at a new school, there's football, there's-"

"-ensuring the student population of Carmel doesn't find out that you're gay," Jesse's voice added casually. "Look, the two of us want the same things. You want to stay in the closet, and I want to help you do so. If you don't join, I can't guarantee that one of the members of Vocal Adrenaline might accidentally stumble upon your little secret."

"You can't do this!" the other voice groaned.

Where had Rachel heard the voice before? She knew that she had: Rachel Berry never forgot a voice once she heard it, especially if it was as talented as Jesse claimed. Was it a member of Vocal Adrenaline that just wasn't featured in years past? Surely she would remember that, though. Rachel clambered to her feet. Regardless, she decided, it was simply wrong to threaten to out someone. Jesse hadn't batted an eye the first time he entered the Berry household and met Rachel's fathers—surely he knew better than to sink this low. Well, if he didn't, he was about to be educated.

"I've made you a rehearsal schedule that takes into account your courseload and football obligations. It grants you at least 35 minutes of personal time every evening, which I find extremely generous. Trust me, you'll enjoy it. Or not. But that's not really my problem, is it?" Jesse chuckled and Rachel could hear the sound of papers being moved around.

"Look, I came here to get away from all this, from the accusations and the blackmail. You, though you may not look it, are an educator—you're supposed to protect me. I could have you fired for this, you know."

Jesse laughed again, "Oooh, but to do that, you'd have to come out of the closet to even make an accusation against me. And you don't really want that, do you? Like I said, it's in your best interests to join Vocal Adrenaline and use that voice of yours for some good."

That was it: Rachel had heard enough. Adopting one of her best protest faces, she marched her way toward the light and the front of the stage. If there was one thing Rachel was good at, it was a dramatic entrance and this certainly qualified as one. Jesse and the not-yet Vocal Adrenaline member were at the peak of their conversation—tension was extremely high and neither boy expected to get caught. She would emerge from the side of the stage and shout "_Jesse St. James, you should know better!_" all while pointing a finger straight at the offender. Jesse would be ashamed of his actions, and, knowing he'd been caught, let the other boy go on to play football. Vocal Adrenaline would lose a secret weapon. The baby chickens would be avenged. Rachel grinned at the thought before catching herself and resuming her expression of protest as she rounded the corner.

"_Jesse St. James!" _she shouted at the top of her lungs, pointing a finger forward, "_You should— K-_Karofsky?"

Both boys looked up at the petite girl in shock. Jesse chuckled, rolling his eyes in a manner that clearly said "_I should have known better_." David Karofsky, however, remained frozen in complete shock, his eyes darting like a cornered animal searching for a place to run. Quicker than either boy had a chance to speak, Rachel's hand darted to her mouth and she let out a soft, "Oh."

Realization struck a moment after Rachel saw the look in Karofsky's eyes—they told most of the story, and Rachel could piece together the rest from her own interactions with the former bully. David Karofsky had bullied the entire glee club when he was with his primitive football friends, but when he had gone solo, he only targeted Kurt. Kurt, who was the only student in the school to be proudly gay and without whom, discussions of homosexuality at the school would be kept to a bare minimum. Rachel knew—she had seen the change in McKinley's environment once Kurt had transferred: outside of glee club, the jocks began calming down slightly. If anything, Karofsky had to have been terrified, so he took it out on Kurt.

The memories began pouring back, piecing together a story that had been just under the surface the entire time.

First, there was the visit to the Hummel-Hudson household after the first day of senior year. Rachel had stopped by to help Finn find a duet to start off the year together in Glee Club, and they had stopped to gossip about all the changes to McKinley this year.

"Just wait until you see Quinn's hair," Kurt had said, "It's completely pink. I'm actually starting to get a little worried about her sanity."

Finn responded, "Yeah, I didn't see her all day. Oh, you know who else I didn't see? Karofsky. Found out from the team that he transferred schools for health reasons. Or 'cause his Dad was making him. Or 'cause he found a girlfriend there. I actually heard a lot of things—but that should make you feel pretty good, huh, Kurt? Don't have to worry about him at all this year!"

Kurt had nodded, but there was something Rachel couldn't quite place in his eyes at the time. Something that remotely resembled sadness, which she had found completely inappropriate considering his past with the bully. So she promptly ignored the look, which she probably had misinterpreted. Only, she hadn't.

Now it all made sense: Kurt knew. Of course Kurt had known—because Karofsky had upped his threats to an unprecedented level right before Kurt had transferred to Dalton. It was out of character, even for Karofsky, to go as far as a death threat and now it all made sense. And if this was the case, no wonder Karofsky looked even more terrified than Kurt when the smaller boy won Prom Queen—he must have decided that he had been found out.

Jesse had snuck back into the dance when the winners were announced, explaining to Rachel that the crowning was the moment with the most dramatic tension, and there was no way he would miss that. And after Kurt had accepted his crown, walking down to the dance floor with his King, Jesse had smirked.

"What?" Rachel whispered, not wanting to draw attention to the boy beside her.

"Nothing," Jesse responded, grinning widely, "Have I ever told you I'm really good at reading lips?" He gave a quick peck to Rachel's hand, before winking. "See you at the afterparty, Rachel"

And now Jesse was cashing in on the information that he must have found out that night, which is why he looked so _smug_, standing in the spotlight of Carmel auditorium, smiling.

"Well, well, if it isn't my favorite spy, Rachel Berry."

"Jesse." Rachel nodded at the curly haired boy, before glancing over at Karofsky with a bit of apology in her eyes "David."

"Of all the people to out me to..." Dave quietly mumbled, while Jesse looked on in amusement.

"I heard what you were saying, Jesse, and I must tell you—I'm disappointed. I would never have dated someone who would stoop so low as to threaten to out someone if I had known better." Rachel crossed her arms and glared at the choir director, "Can't you see how this is affecting David?" Turning to the larger boy, Rachel added, "And you. We need to talk. I'm not saying that just because you're gay means that you're forgiven for everything you did to me and my friends. But we need to talk."

David sighed and nodded, slinking off into one of the auditorium's plush seats to watch Berry and Jesse duke it out before having to sit through a Grade A Rachel Berry Lecture.

"I'm just trying to do what's best for the team, and best for a confused student who could use the arts as a way to better himself," Jesse said calmly, moving toward his once girlfriend. "Surely you can understand that."

Rachel opened her mouth in protest and closed it promptly. Finn had told her about the weed incident with Mr. Schue and how ready the teacher was to let him into Glee Club after it had been planted. Neither voiced their true suspicions, but Rachel was sure that Mr. Schue might have played dirty—this year had made it all too apparent that he would do anything to win. And true, if David was as talented as Jesse suggested—he was no slouch at moving, that much Rachel had seen for herself—then he could stand to gain a lot of self-confidence by performing.

"You're talking about outing someone, Jesse. Not giving them a bad grade or ruining a relationship. If you do this, you can't take it back... ever." Rachel looked pointedly at the show choir director, thinking of Santana's premature outing thanks to her boyfriend. "I agree that the arts could do a lot for David, I've seen him perform and if I didn't hate him at the time, would have been impressed. But I don't have the right to say what's best for him, and I certainly don't have the right to threaten to out him. Neither do you, Jesse."

"And who will stop me? Look, there doesn't have to be any outings if he joins up. I'm a great secret-keeper, and promise to even defend his closet if he sings lead for one of my songs. But, Rachel, there is nothing you can do to stop me one way or another. Or would _you_ prefer to out him by going to someone about this... misunderstanding?"

Rachel paused and took a deep breath before rattling off, "Show Choir Handbook, Article on Membership, Section 11b: All members of a competition team must be volunteering their services." She shot Jesse a defiant look, just waiting for the curly haired boy to challenge. "If Dave said he was performing against his will, they wouldn't ask why—you just get a huge disqualification. And, seeing how quick Goolsby was out the door with a second place finish, who's to say you'd be around long after such scandal?"

In the audience, Dave's eyebrows rose in awe. Rachel never once believed she'd use her talent for talking to protect Dave, and clearly the boy was thinking along similar lines.

"Why are you doing this, Rachel? What do you owe him?" Jesse said softly.

"You know, my dads were really impressed by you. It's a shame they were wrong." Rachel spoke in a low tone for maximum effect before turning at the heel. "Dave, we're going." She walked off the stage heading toward the football player's seat.

Dave looked nervous, "But what if he...?"

Rachel glared over at the stage and locked eyes with Jesse, "He won't." she said loudly, before turning her attention back to Karofsky. "We're going to the Lima Bean, Dave. And though I can't force you to do anything, as I don't want to sink to his level, I will ask you to do a few things for me."

Dave nodded quietly, following behind the girl as she listed off her demands. Her _suggestions_.

"One: I'd like an apology. A real one. I'm starting to understand that there were bigger things at work last year when you drove my friend away for half of the school year. But it didn't just affect him: Mercedes and I hardly got to see him once a week, and I'd like an apology for that. Two: Again, if you want to, but you kind of owe it to me: I'd like to hear your side of the story. There are some things that don't just line up for me. And three:"

Rachel grinned as Dave stared at the floor, following closely behind.

"I want to hear you sing."


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel looked over her cup of coffee with a slight frown. When she decided to spy—rather, to inform herself about the current happenings at Carmel, she never expected once to end up in the Lima Bean with David Karofsky. Ignoring his mutters of "I hate this place," Rachel led him to a small table in the corner where they could speak freely with little chance of being overheard. After both of them got their drinks, they sat awkwardly for a minute or two, sipping at their beverages and offering halfhearted smiles at the other. Finally, Rachel spoke up.

"So, you're gay."

Karofsky grimaced, "You don't waste time, do you?" Sighing a bit, he added, "But yeah, something like that."

"And you bullied Kurt because he was gay."

Any chance of David maintaining eye contact had been ruined. Contemplating the intricacies of his disposable coffee lid, he answered slowly. "...yeah."

"And you did the whole Bully Whip thing to-"

"Look, is this going to be an interrogation? 'Cause I've had enough with the pointed questions for one day. If you want to hear my story and my apology, then you're going to have to be quiet for a moment and let me do the talking, Berry."

Rachel glared at the ex-bully with righteous indignation. How dare he tell her what to do? Especially when he was the one in the wrong all those years! And it wasn't an interrogation—Rachel was helping David come to terms with a very difficult situation. Couldn't he see that?

"Fine," she huffed, "I'm listening."

David hesitated for a moment before starting his story, keeping his voice barely audible the whole time.

"So, um, I've known I'm—that I like guys—probably longer than I'd like to admit. I mean, being an athlete requires being in a locker room, and when Puck and the guys started talking about big boobs and MILFs and stuff, I just nodded along. I wasn't really as excited about some neighbor girl Puck had seen undressing—I mean, isn't that like an invasion of privacy? This was still junior high, where I was pretty quiet, so I chocked everything up to morality. Of course I didn't like these stories, I thought, they're really degrading."

Rachel offered a slight grin, thinking of her father's own coming out story, one that she and her dad had heard countless times. Karofsky swallowed, taking a moment before he continued.

"But it wasn't morality at all, as I soon found out again in the locker room. When I started, y'know, changing, I couldn't help but steal a couple of glances in the showers. I mean, there I was, naked in a room full of guys—you're bound to see something accidentally every once in a while, right? But, uh, I didn't really want to admit it wasn't always by accident. And when it wasn't—it was purely for informational purposes, you know, seeing how I'm... uh... developing?"

Karofsky chuckled for a moment, daring to meet Rachel's eyes. She hadn't really been expecting this much detail, but who knows how many chances David had been given to tell this story. _His_ story. For all she knew, she could be the very first person he told this to, which made it a Very Important Story, with capital letters for emphasis.

"It's kind of stupid, all the excuses I made back then. Even when I had my first... uh... nocturnal emission... thinking about that stupid locker room, I figured it was 'cause I had nothing to compare it to. I'd been perfectly respectful toward girls, but I was a young teenager with needs, so my mind was obviously resorting to what it knew. Remember Julie Fisher?"

Rachel raised an eyebrow, "The Cheerio?"

"Yeah, that's her. Blonde, pretty, great legs." David paused again, "Female. Around that time I 'went out' with her and asked her to take off her top. Y'know, so I could have something else to think about. Something appropriate for a guy my age. She slapped me. And that was that."

David smiled a bit at the memory and Rachel found herself grinning back despite herself. This storyteller was far from the Karofsky that she once knew. He was stunningly honest, and with or without forgiving the boy, she found his story quite compelling.

"But that wasn't really a problem," David said, "To an extent, I came to terms that this was a phase I'd be going through until I found the right girl. We were in high school by this point, and no one suspected anything. So I was fine with waiting. But McKinley—it doesn't really take well to people's secrets staying under the radar. In sophmore year, Azimio came to me an proposed an alliance between my hockey friends and the non-Glee members of the football team. We would force the boys to choose between the two, taking special aim at their leader, Finn. They would choose sports, of course, and glee club would be disbanded."

Rachel glared at David—that week had been one of the most stressful in the early days of the Glee Club. And hearing that it wasn't chance—that it had been _plotted_by the jocks, made it that much worse. David held his hands up.

"I'm not saying it was right—it's just what happened. Anyway, I tried to back out: I hadn't really had any trouble with anyone in Glee as a member of the hockey team. But Azimio looked at me all weird and said, 'What? You a f-' uh, you know... _that _word, 'or something? We could be kings at this school! All the best parties and all the best ladies. You wanna give that up 'cause it sounds mean? C'mon Karofsky!'" David shook his head at the memory. "I got scared. I thought I had been found out—and suddenly it all made sense: Glee was gay, so antagonizing Glee Club was straight. Do that enough, and no one would question you. Ever. And I could get girls—I could find one that would finally jolt me out of this phase. I would, as he said, be a king."

Rachel appreciated the dramatic irony of the phrase, and judging by David's wistful look, he did as well. At this point, the story had taken on a life of its own, and David was purely the vessel for it—registering each emotion as it came back strongly. Fear, pride, disappointment—Rachel could see everything etched on David's face as he continued.

"The next part kind of blends in with what you already know," he said, sighing, "For a year, I bullied you guys like crazy, and I actually began to enjoy it. The praise, the social status, and sometimes even the fear. Those moments when Kurt was afraid were the only moments I could relate to him at all. He was never all that scared about being gay, but it terrified the shit out of me. Anyway," Dave paused and downed the last of his coffee, "One way or another, Kurt finally saw through everything. I slipped up and so he knew the truth—the one thing that could destroy me permanently. At the same time, I decided that it wasn't a phase, that it wasn't going to change. And these two things, they made me go crazy. Every look in the hallway, every less than enthusiastic 'Hey, Karofsky,' meant one thing: _they knew_."

Karofsky smiled into an empty cup and chuckled again, but Rachel could see a moistness forming at his eyes.

"You know the funniest part of the whole thing? I ran into Kurt this year—just once—and he said to me that he never would have outed me. And for the first time I believed him. But back then, I thought he was spreading it everywhere and no one had the guts to actually tell me what they'd found out. Instead, everyone was content to laugh behind my back. I needed it to stop, and the only way to do that was to keep Kurt from talking. And when I got expelled, my dad fought it because he said he knew I was better than that. That only made me feel worse. 'He wouldn't be saying that if he knew,' I thought. Heck, I still don't know what he's going to say when I tell him. He told me I would be transferring schools at the beginning of the next year and that he expected me to make a fresh start of everything. And I'm glad he did, 'cause when Kurt won Prom Queen, there was no way I could stay at McKinley, where no one's business is their own."

Rachel looked sadly at David, who quickly wiped moisture from his eyes.

"Santana made me do the whole Bully Whip thing, and frankly, I didn't mind. It was the least I could do after everything, and if rumors started, I would be leaving soon anyway. And now here I am, once again having been found out... and it still really freaks me out. I was just kind of settling into the fact that I could play football and secretly like dudes without having to be a total ass about it. But I'm kind of freaking out here. When Jesse told me that he knew, it took everything in me not to slam him against a wall and physically threaten him. It all came back so quickly: the fear and self-loathing." David shook his head and his voice cracked slightly. "I'm tired, Berry. I don't want to go through all of this again. I _can't_do this again."

Responding to the pleading tone that David used, Rachel took the boy's hand in hers without hesitation.

"I'm not saying I forgive you," she quickly qualified, "But thank you for being so honest. It was really brave of you and I think it shows that you have grown since last I saw you. David, Jesse won't do anything against you now—his love of winning is too strong. And even if he did hold a grudge and decided to out you after Nationals, you'd have all of one week to deal with it before graduation. I'm pretty sure you could live with that."

Karofsky hesitated, "I know that, but I mean, how can you be _sure_? At least Kurt and Santana understood what I was going through, so I could place a little more stock in them not spilling the beans. But Jesse? He's kind of a douche."

Rachel grinned despite herself, "Yeah, he is. But you're just going to have to trust me on this."

"And what about you? Not even Finn knows, Rachel, even though he's living with Kurt. Would you be able to keep it from him? From everyone?"

"I've got two gay dads who would disown me if they found out I outed someone. That's why I stormed in to help you on that stage, even if I wasn't expecting to see you there. I know that Kurt knows. So if I'm just bursting with the urge to talk about it, I'll do so with him. Fair enough?"

"I guess," Dave shook his head, "I can't believe I told you all of that just now. We've been here for what? Two hours? It doesn't make any sense. I'm just kind of messed up, you know? And I guess I just needed to get all that out there."

As she got up from her chair, grimacing at the aches in her legs for sitting for so long, Rachel extended a handshake to David. "Happy to help," she said. Reaching into her purse, the singer grabbed a sticky note and a pen—it helped to be prepared for all circumstances. Rachel took a moment to jot down some information before handing the filled sticky note to Karofsky. "Here. It's my number and my father's number. I'm not saying you need to call him, but I think you might find that my father's a little more similar to you than you may think. It might do you some good to talk to someone gay and in a happy family, so keep those numbers on you. Oh, and I'd like you to come to the McKinley auditorium at 10am on Saturday. Again, this is just a suggestion, but Mr. Schue lets us into the building on weekends if we want to practice on the stage individually, and that's when I usually go. If you wanted to sing, I'd love to hear what Jesse was talking about."

David smiled and put the sticky note in his wallet. "Yeah, I'll think about it. Can I text you?" he asked, gesturing to his pocket.

"Yeah, that'd be great." Rachel replied.

As the two left the coffee shop, Rachel clapped a hand on David's shoulder. "Hey," she said, "I really have Jesse taken care of. Just worry about you right now, and I'll take care of him."

"I don't need the help," Karofsky huffed, "But uh... thanks, I guess? I mean, for everything. I have to say, the moment I saw you on that stage today, I thought my life was over. Thanks for proving me wrong."

Rachel smiled and headed to her car, waving goodbye to the former bully. It was a lot to take in, actually, and she would be glad to sit at home and just process everything. Dave Karofsky was gay, and hovering on the edge of even being content with it and Rachel had just helped him stay in the closet. Reaching into her pocket, Rachel grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to one of the contacts on her favorites list.

_Hey, Kurt. We need to talk about something._


	3. Chapter 3

Rachel was laying on her bed, flipping through a New York City travel guide when her phone finally buzzed. Lunging for the device, she quickly brought up her new messages and saw that Kurt had replied to her earlier text.

_What's going on? Is it Finn, because I swear—brother or not—I will punch that boy if he's dating Quinn again._

Rachel laughed, before replying, setting her book aside. She could tell Kurt about some of the smaller, experimental theatres later.

_It's about Karofsky._

There was a long pause before she received a reply.

_Rachel, he transferred. I'm pretty sure he's not some creepy stalker who's still out to get me like everyone seems to think._

_Who thinks that? I was actually going to say that I ran into him at Carmel today and we got to talking._

_You went to Carmel? Again? What if you had been seen? And what in the world could you possibly have to talk about with Dave Karofsky?_

Rachel couldn't stand it anymore. She had been hoping Kurt would sound a little more excited to talk about something he probably hadn't a lot, but he just sounded annoyed. It would be best to just get to the point and sacrifice a little dramatic build-up.

_Jesse tried to get him to join Vocal Adrenaline using something he overheard you and Karofsky say to one another at Prom. Something about Karofsky's sexual orientation (which I've since learned). I happened to be in the auditorium when this happened so I stepped in to stop Jesse._

Almost immediately, Rachel's phone began blasting "Popular," the ringtone she'd assigned to Kurt.

"Kurt?" she asked out of habit upon answering, even though she knew full well who it was.

"I can't believe that asshole!" Kurt shouted into the phone, leaving Rachel in shock, "Doesn't he know better than that? I mean, I hated him when he was playing you, and I hated him more when he was judging me! He just finds new ways to top himself, doesn't he?"

"Calm down, Kurt. Like I said, I took care of Jesse. As long as he wants to win—and trust me, he does—then he won't touch David."

"It's just, how can he think he has the right? You saw what happened to Santana! Why do straight people think they can just go around outing people like it's nothing?"

"I don't know, Kurt. My dads were livid when Salazar's ad played a couple months ago. It's just awful what happened to her—and Finn couldn't even be in a room when the commercial played. He'd turn red and say he had to use the restroom. It was really awful."

"And I take it Dave isn't taking this too well? I mean, the whole reason he transferred was to avoid being found out."

"He was scared, that's for sure," Rachel began, thinking back to the Lima Bean, "But he also seemed grateful for the opportunity to talk about it in depth with someone. I don't really know how close you guys are, because the Glee Club always thought you hated his guts, but he told me his whole side of the story."

"That's... wow, that's actually quite a bit of progress for him. I don't know what our relationship is, to be honest. He's not a threat anymore, and hasn't been for a while. He's actually really witty underneath all of that typical jock exterior, but I don't know if I want to call him a friend. I don't think he'd feel okay enough with our past for that label. We're okay... good, even. But who knows apart from that?"

"I can see that. Even today, he was really very reserved about everything at first, like he didn't think I would care enough about what he had to say. I think when he saw I was really listening that he let himself go."

"That's really good. I'm proud of him."

"You probably should be. He seems a lot better than when he was shoving you into the lockers and when you were at Dalton."

"Yeah..." there was a pause, and Kurt continued, "So, did you get to hear him sing? If Jesse thinks he's good, then there's a chance he actually is. Then again, after last year, I find Jesse's taste to be... misguided... on occasion, not that you didn't kill your audition song or anything. I just wish he'd realized how much work Santana, Mercedes, and I put into ours."

"No, but I let David know that I'd like to hear him sing. Not as blackmail or anything, but if he feels like it after the extremely nice thing I did for him."

"You did _not _ give Dave Karofsky Jewish guilt, did you?"

"Maybe a little..."

"Rachel Berry! ...give me all the details or a recording when you he caves and I might think about forgiving you."

Rachel laughed. "Is that a threat?"

"You bet it is." The soprano could practically see Kurt's wink on the other side of the line. Suddenly, Kurt gasped, "Hey, wait a second. I have an idea! Have you ever heard of Scandals? It's a somewhat local gay bar that has karaoke on Mondays, and is 18+ those nights. We could totally go! Would you mind if I invited Blaine, even though Finn wouldn't be able to go with Karofsky being there?"

"Of course not! You know I love Blaine and it sounds like it could be really fun. But do you really think Karofsky would go to a place like that? He didn't sound all that confident when I was talking to him before..."

"He's already been. I saw him there once, and that's how I found out all about why he had gone to Carmel for senior year. He's actually a pretty different person there. It's like the fact that he can be himself just radiates off of him, and he just grins. Wow. That sounded pretty gay."

"Hey, luckily you have the right," Rachel replied, "Oh, I'm really getting excited about this. What if he's good and we can convince him to come back to McKinley and join New Directions? I could just see the look on Jesse's face if we ended up using his secret weapon against him!"

"One thing at a time, Rachel. Let's just see if we can get David to agree. How about next Monday?"

"Sounds good. You go invite Blaine and I'll try to convince David to come. I'll grab his number from Finn's phone and see if he wants to meet for coffee again."

"Great." Kurt hummed into the phone for a moment before continuing with a much firmer tone, "And Rachel? I don't need to tell you not to tell anyone, do I? Even Finn, Rachel. I've been able to keep it from my folks and Finn and everyone this entire time—please don't go ruining his life before he gets it in order."

"Come on, Kurt, this is _me_ you're talking about!"

"Exactly!"

Rachel gasped, "I resent that!"

"But you know it's true."

Rachel grinned, "...maybe a little." she admitted. "I swear I'll be good, though."

"Good. Have a good night, Rachel."

"Good night, Kurt."

Rachel hung up and placed the phone onto the charger on her bedside table. She wondered what kinds of songs David liked to sing—his voice was a little deeper than most in Glee, after all. And would he really just be okay with taking the stage in a gay bar? There were so many things that Rachel just didn't know about this new David, one she hadn't the slightest idea existed before today. And Kurt had seemed unusually protective of this David, as if he feared the idea of the jock coming out almost as much as David himself did.

And Kurt had basically admitted that Blaine knew Karofsky's secret as well. How many did that make, with her and Jesse now included in the mix? Six? Seven? More? It was no wonder that Karofsky looked so nervous when he had been found out again: each new person made the dynamic exponentially harder to predict.

Why had Karofsky not even mentioned Blaine as someone who knew his secret? Kurt wouldn't have invited him if he hadn't known, gay or not—so Karofsky must have intentionally omitted the curly haired boy from his tale.

The more Rachel thought about the entire situation and her conversations with the two very different gay boys during the day, the more confused she became. It may have just been residual shock from the need to recategorize the jock from homophobic to a formerly homophobic homosexual, but Rachel had this gut instinct that something didn't quite add up. Seeing that she could be a little psychic at times, this probably meant that one or both boys weren't being completely honest about the situation, and it was up to her to figure out just how. The singer took this as a sign that she would just have to get to know David a bit better in the days to come. She would learn about his likes and dislikes. She would connect with him. And then she would convince him to join New Directions, but only if he was sufficiently talented.

Rachel smiled as she drifted off into sleep, dreaming of a towering Nationals trophy she held aloft as the assembled members of New Directions, including David Karofsky, applauded her perfect solo that had given their team the edge.


End file.
